Seeing error "TPM 2.0 device detected but a connection cannot be established" on host after enabling TPM 2.0

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

The host shows below error after configuring TPM even if the configurations are correct.
"TPM 2.0 device detected but a connection cannot be established"

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.5
VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7
VMware vSphere ESXi 7.0
VMware vSphere ESXi 8.0

Cause

tpmdriver was missing from the installed vibs causing the host not to communicate with the underlying TPM hardware resulting in the error.

Will see below logs in vmkwarning/vmkernel
------------------------------------------------------------
vmkwarning.all:2020-11-12T17:36:36.007Z cpu24:2097931)WARNING: tpmDriver: TpmDriverInitImpl:307: TPM 2 SHA-256 PCR bank not found to be active.
vmkwarning.all:2020-11-12T17:36:36.007Z cpu24:2097931)WARNING: tpmDriver: TPMDriverAttachDevice:216: \_SB_.TPM_: couldn't perform TIS init
vmkwarning.all:2020-11-12T17:36:36.008Z cpu24:2097931)WARNING: Elf: 3110: Kernel based module load of tpmdriver failed: Failure <Mod_LoadDone failed>

Resolution

Engage with hardware vendor to provide the tpmdriver vib for the host to communicate with underlying TPM.

Workaround:
NA

Additional Information

Impact/Risks:
TPM 2.0 will not work on host.